The American Heart Association suggests that if obesity trends continue as they have over the last 20 years, then by 2048 every single American will be overweight.
Will you be one of these people? How about your kids... will they?
If you experience any of the following on a daily basis then you may be at risk of obesity:
*You are constantly fatigued
*You crave sweets, coffee
*You're often hungry, irritable, or shaky between meals
*You have frequent headaches
*You experience poor memory / concentration, but are relieved by eating
Again, if you habitually experience any of the above then your diet is imbalanced.
Visit www.sparkpeople.com to get control over your eating habits.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Exceptional Habits Initiate Exceptional Fitness Results
It takes great discipline to develop the 5 habits mentioned in the last newsletter. Yet for every disciplined effort you get an exponential return.
If you commit to a new exercise program when do you start feeling stronger? Right away. You will feel stronger right away because finally you are doing something about it!
Some people set a fitness goal and just don't do anything about it.
Failing to do the easy stuff, that you know you should do, leads to feelings of guilt. Guilt erodes confidence.
Failing to attain fitness results is not the result of one single cataclysmic event. Failure is something that accumulates gradually, day by day, as you take casually what is asked of you.
Four servings of water today instead of eight. Two balanced meals today instead of five. No workout, and only twenty minutes of cardio. That's nine strikes against you for the week, and it's only Monday.
Confidence erupts from people who follow the 5 habits. The feeling of accomplishment you will get is almost as meaningful to your performance as the attainment of results.
Strangely, the 5 habits actually become desirable to you at the first sign of results. You will want to do what is asked of you by the 5 habits because those first tastes of results can taste so good.
The key to exceptional results is to do more than asked. Surpass the 5 habits day by day. Go beyond minimums.
A strength AND a cardio workout today. Six servings of fruits and vegetables today instead of five. Ten glasses of water when the minimum was eight. You are four points up and it's only Monday, outstanding.
This week: say less, and do more.
*Action: Record your water intake, cardiovascular work, and strength training sessions this week. As an excellent manager of people once said "don't make the minimum your maximum."
Inspired in part by audio excerpts of Jim Rohn.
If you commit to a new exercise program when do you start feeling stronger? Right away. You will feel stronger right away because finally you are doing something about it!
Some people set a fitness goal and just don't do anything about it.
Failing to do the easy stuff, that you know you should do, leads to feelings of guilt. Guilt erodes confidence.
Failing to attain fitness results is not the result of one single cataclysmic event. Failure is something that accumulates gradually, day by day, as you take casually what is asked of you.
Four servings of water today instead of eight. Two balanced meals today instead of five. No workout, and only twenty minutes of cardio. That's nine strikes against you for the week, and it's only Monday.
Confidence erupts from people who follow the 5 habits. The feeling of accomplishment you will get is almost as meaningful to your performance as the attainment of results.
Strangely, the 5 habits actually become desirable to you at the first sign of results. You will want to do what is asked of you by the 5 habits because those first tastes of results can taste so good.
The key to exceptional results is to do more than asked. Surpass the 5 habits day by day. Go beyond minimums.
A strength AND a cardio workout today. Six servings of fruits and vegetables today instead of five. Ten glasses of water when the minimum was eight. You are four points up and it's only Monday, outstanding.
This week: say less, and do more.
*Action: Record your water intake, cardiovascular work, and strength training sessions this week. As an excellent manager of people once said "don't make the minimum your maximum."
Inspired in part by audio excerpts of Jim Rohn.
Monday, January 4, 2010
5 fitness tips for a year of fitness results
January 1 2010. The world makes another trip around the sun and you get a fresh chance to make this revolution the most effective to date.
Most folks will shrink into old complaints, repeating the roll over act of last year. Sad, but true. A select few, however, will use this year to regain control of their time and their life. Will that be you?
As you dictate your next 365 days, keep in mind these 5 fitness habits:
#1) Get a Schedule
Not a “routine,” routines are boring and besides they are fascist. Get a schedule, something you can look forward to.
The two most important elements of a schedule: when and where. Woody Allen said 80% of life is showing up. Find a way to make fitness something that you can just “show up” to. Group classes, personal training, and planned one on one time with a treadmill are all different ways to plan “showing up.”
* Schedule 3-5 hours of cardiovascular exercise and 2 hours of resistance exercise per week.
#2) Reign In Your Sleep
Just returning from vacation, how many folks sheepishly admit that the best part of vacation was the sleep? Answer – most people do. On vacation you went to bed early, you slept in, and you felt amazing. Highly effective people incorporate rest into their workout program.
* Average at least 7 hours per night of sleep.
#3) Drink, Drink, Drink
Water, of course, is the fundamental element of life. American’s live their life in a mild state of dehydration. Don’t short change yourself drink water. Your energy, stamina, and body composition are all affected by your water intake. Get a water bottle, get a water cooler, and get a lemon or 5 because you’re about to drink some serious water.
*Drink ½ your healthy body weight in ounces of water per day. Ex: 140 lbs = 70 ounces of water.
#4) Just Eat It
Learn what you need to eat. Consult a qualified nutritionist or check out a website like www.sparkpeople.com to learn how you can fuel your body. Post exercise – get a liquid meal replacement in you as soon as possible.
As a rule, if you cannot imagine what is on your plate growing in the wild then it doesn’t belong inside of you. Ever seen a twinkie tree? Enough Said.
*Consult a professional and take control of your nutrition.
#5) Move with a Purpose
Sports have seasons, animals migrate, weather changes. So too must your fitness program change if you are to experience lasting fitness results. As a rule, results happen in increments of 4-6 weeks. If your program’s not changing every 4-6 weeks, neither will your body.
* Know what you are doing, know why you are doing it, and be determined to act with intent.
...
Fitness results come only after you have taken control of your self and your time. This year marks another series of choices. To complain or to control, to roll over or to take accountability - the choice, as always, is yours.
Most folks will shrink into old complaints, repeating the roll over act of last year. Sad, but true. A select few, however, will use this year to regain control of their time and their life. Will that be you?
As you dictate your next 365 days, keep in mind these 5 fitness habits:
#1) Get a Schedule
Not a “routine,” routines are boring and besides they are fascist. Get a schedule, something you can look forward to.
The two most important elements of a schedule: when and where. Woody Allen said 80% of life is showing up. Find a way to make fitness something that you can just “show up” to. Group classes, personal training, and planned one on one time with a treadmill are all different ways to plan “showing up.”
* Schedule 3-5 hours of cardiovascular exercise and 2 hours of resistance exercise per week.
#2) Reign In Your Sleep
Just returning from vacation, how many folks sheepishly admit that the best part of vacation was the sleep? Answer – most people do. On vacation you went to bed early, you slept in, and you felt amazing. Highly effective people incorporate rest into their workout program.
* Average at least 7 hours per night of sleep.
#3) Drink, Drink, Drink
Water, of course, is the fundamental element of life. American’s live their life in a mild state of dehydration. Don’t short change yourself drink water. Your energy, stamina, and body composition are all affected by your water intake. Get a water bottle, get a water cooler, and get a lemon or 5 because you’re about to drink some serious water.
*Drink ½ your healthy body weight in ounces of water per day. Ex: 140 lbs = 70 ounces of water.
#4) Just Eat It
Learn what you need to eat. Consult a qualified nutritionist or check out a website like www.sparkpeople.com to learn how you can fuel your body. Post exercise – get a liquid meal replacement in you as soon as possible.
As a rule, if you cannot imagine what is on your plate growing in the wild then it doesn’t belong inside of you. Ever seen a twinkie tree? Enough Said.
*Consult a professional and take control of your nutrition.
#5) Move with a Purpose
Sports have seasons, animals migrate, weather changes. So too must your fitness program change if you are to experience lasting fitness results. As a rule, results happen in increments of 4-6 weeks. If your program’s not changing every 4-6 weeks, neither will your body.
* Know what you are doing, know why you are doing it, and be determined to act with intent.
...
Fitness results come only after you have taken control of your self and your time. This year marks another series of choices. To complain or to control, to roll over or to take accountability - the choice, as always, is yours.
Monday, November 30, 2009
10 Guidelines to Great Lifting
- Do a general (cardio) warm up before lifting
- Perform a specific light warm up set for each muscle group
- Perform exercises throughout the entire range of motion
- Use light weight with new exercises
- Attend to joint pain immediately
- Design programs to enhance muscular balance
- Avoid bouncing weights at the bottom of each lift
- Train each muscle group with multiple exercises
- Execute correct technique and mental concentration
Derived and adapted from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, The National Academy of Sports Medicine, and fifteen years of banging weights.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Activity Guidelines
Living a generally healthy lifestyle and becoming physically fit are two entirely different things. Living that healthy lifestyle is far less intense, and perhaps even more important, than improving your fitness level.
In other words, it is not always important to “kill yourself” in order to be healthy. In fact, it has been shown that previously sedentary individuals actually attain better results when exercising at lower intensities.
That said, advancing your fitness level can be one of the most rewarding things you do for yourself. You can feel an increased sense of wellbeing, boost your self confidence, have more energy, feel less pain… even overcome depression just by becoming more physically fit, but it does take hard work.
Becoming more fit is a balancing act of patience and urgency, of discipline and play, of know how and of blind faith. Some say that fit people are just born “lucky.” Well… the harder you work, the luckier you will get. Like Machiovelli once said, the means employed to attain an end will be what is required to maintain that end. So choose your methods and your aims carefully.
At the end of the day, any activity above and beyond what you are currently doing will produce some benefit.
Below are the National Strength and Conditioning Association guidelines for general health and for improved fitness levels.
Which of the two are you and which do you want to be?
General Health Activity Recommendations:
Frequency: 5-7 days per week
Intensity: Moderate (increase your heart rate, breath a bit heavier)
Time: 30 minutes total per day
Type: General activity; walking, using stairs, dancing, mowing yard.
Enjoyment: The higher the better!
Improved Fitness Recommendations:
Frequency: 5-7 days per week
Intensity: 60 – 90% of heart rate max (max = 220 minus your age)
Time: 20-60 minutes per day
Type: Any Activity
Enjoyment: The higher the better!
In other words, it is not always important to “kill yourself” in order to be healthy. In fact, it has been shown that previously sedentary individuals actually attain better results when exercising at lower intensities.
That said, advancing your fitness level can be one of the most rewarding things you do for yourself. You can feel an increased sense of wellbeing, boost your self confidence, have more energy, feel less pain… even overcome depression just by becoming more physically fit, but it does take hard work.
Becoming more fit is a balancing act of patience and urgency, of discipline and play, of know how and of blind faith. Some say that fit people are just born “lucky.” Well… the harder you work, the luckier you will get. Like Machiovelli once said, the means employed to attain an end will be what is required to maintain that end. So choose your methods and your aims carefully.
At the end of the day, any activity above and beyond what you are currently doing will produce some benefit.
Below are the National Strength and Conditioning Association guidelines for general health and for improved fitness levels.
Which of the two are you and which do you want to be?
General Health Activity Recommendations:
Frequency: 5-7 days per week
Intensity: Moderate (increase your heart rate, breath a bit heavier)
Time: 30 minutes total per day
Type: General activity; walking, using stairs, dancing, mowing yard.
Enjoyment: The higher the better!
Improved Fitness Recommendations:
Frequency: 5-7 days per week
Intensity: 60 – 90% of heart rate max (max = 220 minus your age)
Time: 20-60 minutes per day
Type: Any Activity
Enjoyment: The higher the better!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Character
“Character is the product of an exceptional demand upon human ability by a situation. I think the ability of the average man could be doubled if the situation demanded.”
-William Durante
Intellectually the justification to give up is always present. Don’t let your mouth tell your body what cannot be done.
Too often people fall short of their goals because they lack the ability to extract from themselves everything they have to give. In this manner a person becomes stuck in a rut of blame and self pity. Accountability, faith, and persistent execution of a sound plan are what it takes. Overcome the intellectual justification of the impulse to quit and rise to exceed the situation.
Copy and paste the following link into your browser. See it first hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvlmDi_aD10&feature=related
-William Durante
Intellectually the justification to give up is always present. Don’t let your mouth tell your body what cannot be done.
Too often people fall short of their goals because they lack the ability to extract from themselves everything they have to give. In this manner a person becomes stuck in a rut of blame and self pity. Accountability, faith, and persistent execution of a sound plan are what it takes. Overcome the intellectual justification of the impulse to quit and rise to exceed the situation.
Copy and paste the following link into your browser. See it first hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvlmDi_aD10&feature=related
Monday, November 2, 2009
Persistency Is the Enemy
Persistency is the enemy.
Persistent weight gain, compounded over time, is responsible for the majority of obesity in America today.
The "average" person gains only a pound during the holiday season and only a pound and a half over the course of an entire year. One and a half pounds may not sound like much, but with persistence the 1.5 pounds equates to a 10 pound weight gain every seven years.
If you entered the workforce at 22 years old at 170 pounds then slowly, consistently, over time (based on the research) you will morph into a 210 pound 50 year old, a 220 pound 57 year old! If the trend continues then by 64, just after Social Security has kicked in, you're staring 230 pounds dead in the face. Can you imagine the health consequences you could suffer?
The problem is persistence: Weight goes on each year, and typically stays on FOR-E-VER.
At the root of the problem is habits. Inevitably, habits enslave you.
Be a slave to good habits and make persistence your best friend.
your best friend.
Persistent weight gain, compounded over time, is responsible for the majority of obesity in America today.
The "average" person gains only a pound during the holiday season and only a pound and a half over the course of an entire year. One and a half pounds may not sound like much, but with persistence the 1.5 pounds equates to a 10 pound weight gain every seven years.
If you entered the workforce at 22 years old at 170 pounds then slowly, consistently, over time (based on the research) you will morph into a 210 pound 50 year old, a 220 pound 57 year old! If the trend continues then by 64, just after Social Security has kicked in, you're staring 230 pounds dead in the face. Can you imagine the health consequences you could suffer?
The problem is persistence: Weight goes on each year, and typically stays on FOR-E-VER.
At the root of the problem is habits. Inevitably, habits enslave you.
Be a slave to good habits and make persistence your best friend.
your best friend.
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